Simultaneous recovery of high-purity copper and polyvinyl chloride from thin electric cables by plasticizer extraction and ball milling

Abstract

Herein, we introduce a combination of plasticizer extraction from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and ball milling for the simultaneous, effective recovery of PVC and copper (Cu) from thin electric cables.

An overview on the recycling of waste poly(vinyl chloride)

“…Koyanaka et al 30 tried to recycle the cable mechanically but after mechanical grinding and crushing, the copper recovery rate was low and it was often discarded along with the PVC waste. Although Xu et al 31 achieved almost 100% copper recovery by breaking PVC after extraction, which caused embrittlement, this method is not suitable for long or non-uniform cables. Currently, we need to be able to achieve a high recovery of pure copper from long, non-uniform cables and ensure the extraction of plasticizers from PVC.…”

Determining the Mechanical Properties of Solid Plates Obtained from the Recycling of Cable Waste

“…Therefore, numerous studies are carried out on the development of a method to improve the properties of polymer recyclates, in order to find suitable industrial applications for them. Currently, plastic recyclates are most often used in the process of injection and extrusion, which do not yet have their equivalent in industrial usage [29,30]. Recycling cables from a scrap of electric and electronic equipment is a complex problem because there is a wide range of plastics from standard, pure thermoplastics to cross-linked polymers with their numerous mixtures such as glass and carbon fibre, talc or calcium carbonate.…”

(Mechano)chemical modification of polyvinyl chloride with azole-based drugs

“…Thermal treatment, such as pyrolysis, gasification or incineration, of PVC-containing waste results in energy recovery, and PVC can be used as a hydrocarbon source [2]. However, a high chlorine content in the PVC (57 wt.% [3]) posts additional drawbacks for this way of utilization. Namely, a higher temperature of heating is needed to prevent the formation of highly toxic dioxins [4], and, due to the release of acidic HCl, its absorption is required [5].…”